Improving the toilet environment holds promises for increasing the quality of life for elderly and disabled persons. This is one of the goals of the Friendly Rest Room (FRR) project.
The study described in this article explored the preference and use of supports in the toilet environment during the entire toilet ritual.
An adjustable test frame was built with a toilet and three types of supports. Fourteen subjects were asked which positions they favoured for each support. After using all three supports, they were asked which support they found most comfortable.
In general, the preferred positions depended on personal preferences more than on dimensions of the body. It was concluded that there is a preference for vertical supports for sitting down and standing up. During toilet use the side supports were equally appreciated.

As a result of geriatric complaints, elderly people often encounter problems when using the toilet The EU-funded Friendly Rest Room project conducts research on how to increase the quality of life for elderly people by means of a better-suited toilet environment. The study?s objective was to gain an understanding of the ways in which elderly Dutch people use the toilet. More specifically, this relates to the postures they adopt when using the toilet, as well as their acceptance of, and preferences for various means of personal hygiene after using the toilet. An observational study involving 15 elderly participants in a simulated toilet environment was combined with the use of questionnaires. The results indicate that the postures and appliances used for perineal cleansing are very diverse, even within a single culture. There are indications that individuals are prepared to adapt their toilet ritual to the available methods for perineal cleansing. Most subjects showed an appreciation for the possibilities for cleansing while remaining seated, by means of a manoeuvrable washbasin. The facilities for personal hygiene within the FRR environment need to incorporate and facilitate the use for many different types of cleansing media.

Falls are a big concern that can influence the life and wellbeing of elderly people considerably. A research and
design project was initiated to develop a solution to prevent falls in the toilet environment. This was done as part of
the Friendly Rest Room (FRR) project, which focuses on designing better suiting (semi-)public toilet facilities for
elderly people and the handicapped. Various investigations resulted in a set of recommendations for fall preventive
measures in the toilet environment as a whole. The largest number of potential hazardous basic toilet actions is
performed in the vicinity of the toilet bowl. The conceptual design developed next, offers the user support in that area
in an innovative and appropriate way. The design consists of various components; together providing a fine-tuned allin-
one support solution with an inviting appeal, representing luxury, serenity and hygiene. The next step to be taken
is to perform usability tests with the design as a whole, to verify the ideas and design decisions that lead to the
design. Several elementary aspects have been implemented in FRR prototypes. The results of usability tests with
these functional FRR prototypes look affirmative and promising.

Although the topic still is surrounded by taboos in our modern society, the toilet area recently is becoming more and more subject of study and even redesign. The objective of the EU funded project ‘Friendly Rest Room’ (2002-2005) was to provide recommendations for improving the toilet area, in particular focussing on the special needs of elderly and disabled, by performing several user studies and exploring the potential of assistive technologies.
The 10 project partners from 8 different European countries assured as well a multidisciplinary as multicultural vision on the subject matter. This paper describes the approach that was chosen and in more detail the different ergonomic user studies that were performed. Problems and experiences with regards to ethics and cultural differences will be discussed. The results are presented in a basic list of user problems and illustrated by the first product development steps of the ‘toilet of the future’.

Limitations accompanying advanced age can result in a variety of problems in the toilet environment. Falls are responsible for the majority of serious injuries amongst elderly people. The Friendly Rest Room (FRR) project focuses on increasing the quality of life for elderly people by making toilet facilities better suited to their individual needs. This study within the FRR project is carried out to determine the need for more appropriate fall preventive measures and create a knowledge base for design criteria to be implemented in the future FRR. Methods Information was obtained by a literature search, semi-structured interviews with elderly people (n=10) and with nursing professionals (n=6). Results Current fall prevention measures do not decrease the number of fall accidents in the toilet environment sufficiently. When assessing toilet environments on potential fall risks, the toilet environment should be regarded as a whole. Elderly people are currently accustomed to adapt their toilet routine to the supports present, which can result in hazardous situations. Discussion Using the findings in literature, the interviews and the authors’ insight the FRiTA Model is created. The model is used to identify ‘basic toilet activities’ with an increased fall risk within the ‘Dutch’ toilet ritual and reveal potential problem areas within the toilet environment. Conclusion Future research should focus on optimal support solutions and user preferences.

Anthropometric knowledge is most frequently used by designers and product evaluators in the form one-dimensional data to verify whether the product dimension is fitting the human dimension. Several ways of how anthropometric data are used can be distinguished in this matter:
- Ego-design: your own body dimension as a guide;
- Average-design: body dimensions of the average as a guide;
- Design for P5: body dimensions of the smallest person as a guide;
- Design for P95: body dimensions of the largest person as a guide;
- Design for P5-P95; body dimensions of the smallest and largest person as a guide. This type is used most commonly and means that excluding 10% is acceptable
- Design for all: implies the continuous effort during the design process to exclude as few persons as possible
To make this anthropometric world easier to understand two tools are discussed. The tool ‘Ellipse’ will demonstrate how easy it is to analyse a fit-problem with multiple 2D views. The tool ‘Persona’ will visualise the geometrical problems in the human-product-interaction with living persons or with digital models.

The EU-project Friendly Rest room (2002-2004) aims at developing a user-Friendly Rest Room for elderly and persons with limited abilities being facilitated by recent sociological, ergonomic & anthropometrical studies and technology developments. It has been initiated by a company ATI in Jeruzalem, who found 9 other partners to join the consortium out of several countries. These institutes vary in expertise from rehabilitation to social sciences, user societies, nursing institutes and institutes focusing on design ergonomics and to integrate these disciplines there is an industrial design team. Also included is a commercial company to emphasize the realistic outcome. And last but not at least an ethical review committee is involved in the project to verify what is asked of the participating users and especially what is done with the response.
Because there is no method in the handbooks, an interdisciplinary approach is followed, starting with observing at the primary user level where possible, but also other types of users were defined; the secondary user assisting the user, and also the person who does the maintenance, and the architect or the builder who make decisions about starting points in the development process. Without knowing the outcome at this moment, we can predict that an unique collection of user behaviour and cultural influences with variations from all over Europe will be compiled, that will take care of the changing rest room needs of our continuous growing aged population.
Existing anthropometric tables might not be a great help in deciding where to support users with special needs in all the different countries, although the method to measure small samples of the target population could add actionable knowledge for the design team. This could be of importance especially when this method is more dynamic or functional like when measuring a reach envelope (dynamic) instead of a reach depth (static).
Moreover the experience in a nursing and occupational health environment of participating institutes will contribute to analyse the optimum human-product-interaction, which is necessary to develop the product idea of a smart toilet that will compensate the special needs of a user in a friendly way. The production ready and tested prototype should be completed at the end of 2004.